If Today Was Your Last Day
by mudgielovesreba
Summary: Takes place in Season Six Twenty-One Is The Loneliest Number. Lorelai, Emily, and Rory aren't speaking, but how will one accident change that? Drama filled, with lots of Emily/Lorelai! PLEASE READ!
1. Chapter 1

**If Today Was Your LAST Day**

This takes place in Season Six episode 7: Twenty-one is the Loneliest Number, when Lorelai and Luke are heading over to Rory's party at Emily's.

Thanks for reading and I don't own anything!

_**You know it's never too late… **_

_**..So do whatever it takes cause you can't rewind a moment in this life…**_

_Rory. First words, first steps. At the Independence Inn with Mia. Mommy, can I go play with Lane? Come back, please, Rory! Mommy, I had a bad dream. Mommy's here. It's okay, don't worry! Worry, but where is everyone? Luke? Rory? What am I doing here? Where am I? Mom, Dad? _

"Mom?!" Lorelai's throat is so scratchy; it comes out as a hoarse whisper. She looks around and sees white. White everywhere.

_Why am I in this strange room? Where's Rory… I need her… I need Mom! Oh my gosh, what's on my hand? How did that get there? I don't remember getting that banged up. Was I in a wreck?! Ugh, I need my Mom!!_

"Mom!! Rory, anyone?!" Her voice is some better, as a nurse comes in with a smile on her face.

"Settle down, honey. Your family's right outside with the doctor." She comes over to the bedside with a needle.

_Doctor, what doctor? Am I dying?!_

"Now, this won't hurt a bit… just a mild sedative, and it won't put you to sleep." She injects the clear fluid, and Lorelai grimaces a little. "Take it easy from now on. You need your rest for your body to heal up. I'll go let your family know you're awake." Lorelai watches the door close, and looked down at her hands once again. This time she didn't freak, but instead cried a few tears. Her head popped up at the sound of the door. Rory was first, running to her mother's bedside.

"Mom, you scared the hell out of me! But I'm so glad you're gonna be okay! I love you, Mom!"

"Rory!" Lorelai's scratchy voice came. Rory came up to hug her and Lorelai yelped out in pain, causing Rory to jump back. Lorelai's hands went immediately to her stomach. She shook it off, reminding herself that she couldn't appear in such a weak state to her daughter and… her mother, whom she just noticed at the front door standing with her father, who looked so small and helpless.

"Mom, come here." Lorelai demands, silently happy to see her mother. Hell, she'd even be happy to see Michel now. Emily walks over unsure of how to act around her daughter. She gently touches Lorelai's unscathed hand, and Lorelai looks up at Emily.

"I-I'm sorry we fought last week, and-and I…" Violent coughing shakes Lorelai's whole body, sending shivers through her chest.

"Lorelai, please, don't talk. Just get some rest. Your father, Rory and I will be here. It's okay, angel." Emily's compassion overwhelms even herself, but that doesn't matter. Her baby girl needs her, whether she knows it or not.

"But Mom, I'm-…" Lorelai manages to choke out.

"No ma'am… not another word." Lorelai sticks out her bottom lip, even in her fragile state. Looking over to Rory, who smiles, she hears her father speak up.

"Lorelai, your mother's right. You need your rest. You have a great deal of injuries, and they are pretty serious. Now, come on ladies. Let's give the poor girl some peace." Richard says, trying to usher the two women out.

"Wait!" Lorelai stops them, and receives a stern look from her mother. She rolls her eyes and points to a pad of paper and pen on the small desk by the window. Rory obliges, and stands by her mother's bed, waiting to decipher the handwriting. None of them were prepared for what was on that piece of paper though.

_Where's Luke??_

_**TBC**_

**I know… I'm mean… but I had to or else the ending of the chapter would have been a mess (if it's not already)!!! So before you leave the MANDATORY (JK) review, I would like to say that the story is named after one of my favorite songs off of the new NICKELBACK CD! And of course, I will use a line from the song for each chapter title. So, go ahead, review, it encourages me to write another chapter!!! Also, I won't be able to put another chapter up until after next Monday, because I'll be out of town… Thanks!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2- Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart?**

**You should be proud of me because I spent my Thanksgiving holiday writing this emotion-filled chapter for YOU!!**

There was complete silence as a result of two words. Rory looked to Richard, Richard to Emily, and Emily to Lorelai. They hadn't thought of what to tell her about Luke. It seemed that it was up to Emily to break the news to her only daughter. She sat back down on the edge of her daughter's bed, and held Lorelai's hand, stroking it gently.

"Well, sweetheart, he was in the car with you when the truck swerved and hit- well, he received most of the injuries since he was in the driver's seat. And he-... You don't remember any of the accident do you?" She saw the look on her daughter's torn face and stopped, not knowing how to go on.

"No, I don't. Mom, out with it. Is Luke okay?" Lorelai demanded, unsure of how she should prepare herself.

"He's got a severe concussion, a partially collapsed lung, broken arm, and he was bleeding internally before they did surgery but-…" Lorelai's sharp gasp put a stop to the list of her fiancé's ailments.

"They had to do surgery? Why the hell didn't they tell me?! I want to see him!! Mom, I have to see Luke. I love him. What if he's not-?" Lorelai's sobbing prevents her from finishing the sentence.

"Lorelai, calm down. I know you do. We don't know anymore yet, and we couldn't see him because he's not family. Just lie down and we'll see when you're allowed to see him." Emily tries to calm her daughter down, but it doesn't seem to do any good. Lorelai takes it upon herself to find her fiancé, and tries to get out of bed.

"Oh no no no, you're not going anywhere, missy. Hop right back in that bed." Rory scolds her mother.

"Rory, get out of my way! I have to find Luke." Lorelai insisted, still trying to gather up the strength to stand up.

"Mom, listen to me. Do you remember when I was seven and had the flu and Luke came over with the mashed potatoes?" Rory asks her mother, who is staring at her daughter.

"Of course I do, he wouldn't leave until you finished the whole bowl. " Lorelai's long-term memory wasn't at all affected by the accident. Meanwhile, Richard and Emily were listening intently at a story about their future son-in-law that they'd never heard before.

"Exactly. That's just how he is. Now, do you think Luke would want for you to risk your own health just to come and check on his?" Rory counters, and could tell she was victorious in this case.

"No, he wouldn't. You win. But the second you get this cleared with the nurses, I want to see him." She pouts.

"I will, I'll go ask Jess if he's allowed any visitors." Rory promises.

"Jess, Jess is here?" Lorelai's puzzled now, as to why Luke's punk nephew would show.

"Yep, saw him and Liz and T.J. in the hallway. We talked for a little bit, but he was so upset and then you woke up, so I'll go ask him now." Rory said leaning down to give her mother a hug. "I love you mom. I'm glad you're okay."

"Yes, we all are." Richard chimes in from his same place by the door. She notices that everyone is so dressed up, probably for her daughter's party. Lorelai figured they had to shoo all of the guests out due to the accident.

"Thanks, hon. I love you too." Lorelai looks at Rory and then her mother and father. She watches her daughter and father leave and then looks over to her mother as the door is closed.

"What a night, huh?" Lorelai jokes, noticing her mother's quiet behavior. Her mother doesn't say anything, but instead stares down at the drab, white hospital sheets. The fine material of her mother's silky dress put the cloth of Lorelai's hospital gown to shame. Putting her hand out on her mother's, she notices a tear in her mother's eye.

"Mom, what's wrong? Talk to me." Lorelai says, leaning up towards her mother. Emily lifts her head up, a tear barely visible in the corner of her eye.

"I-I just, didn't want to loose you. And I regret that we haven't spoken in the last several months, except for the fact that we fought last week. And if you would've…"

"No, Mom, don't go there. I'm sorry we argued, okay? I was just being selfish, and I wanted my daughter back. Mom, why, why did you have to take the one thing in my life that's solid away from me? I need Rory. Just like I need you." Lorelai whispers, eyes full with fear.

"You… need me?" Emily asks, suddenly confused with why her daughter needs her.

"Yes, Mom, I do. I know I don't show it, but I do. You're my mother. And I think I know a little of what you went through so many years ago when I left. With Rory gone, I just don't know what I would've done if it weren't for Luke. I just hope he's okay... I don't know what I'd do if he-…" A doctor and nurse come in just before Lorelai could finish her statement.

"Okay, Miss Gilmore, you gave us quite a scare there, for a little while… You didn't want to come out of the anesthesia from your surgery. But looks like you've recovered well." The doctor tells them.

"Yes, I have, especially since I didn't know I had surgery." Lorelai jokes, slightly angry that she had no clue what had happened.

"I take it no one filled you in on the extent of your injuries."

"Ummm… unless I got hit on the head with a baseball bat, then no, no one told me a thing." Lorelai sits up straight bracing herself.

"Well, you had to have emergency surgery since you had lost so much blood. It seems the large truck was coming at you and your husband I assume and the car you both were in flipped and went off the side of the guard-rail. It's lucky we got there when we did. There was a sharp long sliver of glass in your chest, so that was the main part of the surgery, and also we had to put a rod in you leg, so you're going to be on crutches for quite a while, after a two-week time period of a wheel chair. You may be coughing for a while, and your voice may be strained so try not to talk too much. I know it's a lot, but we expect you to make a full recovery." Doctor Shultz finishes. Lorelai struggles to find her voice after all of this.

"Um, thank you Doctor. How- how is he?" She manages, looking towards her mother.

"We aren't sure yet, but it's not looking so good. He was bleeding internally, but we managed to stop most of it in surgery. Although it could start back any time now. You should go see him. That reminds me: we have your ring that we had to take off before surgery." The nurse gave Lorelai her engagement ring in a small plastic bag. She took it out and fingered it, not noticing her mother's look of total shock. She put the ring on and looked up at her mother and then quickly to Doctor Shultz.

"Let's go get that wheelchair for Miss Gilmore, why don't we?" He gestures to the nurse, sensing the two would need some time to themselves. They leave the room, and Lorelai panics, afraid that the compassionate woman sitting before her would turn into a vicious woman, ripping her heart out, similar to what she had done to her own mother twenty years ago.

"Mom, I'm sorry. I was going to tell you tonight, I swear. He just got me the ring a few months ago, so I didn't…" Lorelai freaks, not knowing the reaction of her mother. Emily stops her by cupping her hands around her daughter's chin.

"Sweetheart, it's fine. I'm not really concerned with when you were going to tell me. I'm just happy you found Luke." Emily genuinely says.

"Are you serious?" Lorelai's a bit skeptical.

"Yes, given the circumstances, I'm not upset. I understand that I was too close to loosing you, and I don't want to miss out on your future." Emily's truthfulness surprises Lorelai. She's not sure if she likes this side of her mother, but she's too preoccupied thinking about Luke to care.

"Thanks, Mom." A different nurse comes in with the wheel chair, and helps Lorelai's weak body into it.

"Do you want me to-?" Emily questions, unsure if she's over-stepping her boundaries.

"Yes, please, I can't do this by myself." Emily takes the nurse's place behind the wheelchair.

They wheel to room 303, and Lorelai inhales deeply as the door clicks open. Not prepared for Luke's state of being, she gasps sharply, and reaches back to her mother's hand, who takes her daughter's hand graciously. She briefly acknowledges Liz, TJ, and Jess, standing near the bed over the pale body. Seeing Lorelai enter the room, Liz pushes her son and husband to the door, touching both Emily and Lorelai on the shoulder as she passed by. Emily took in everything, down to the tear streaks on Luke's sister's face, and the solemn look on the young man's face as his uncle lied unconscious on the matching white sheets.

"Mom, I-I can't do th-this…" Lorelai stutters, sobbing, letting her head sink down. Emily comes around to the front, bending down eye-level with her daughter.

"Lorelai, you have to be strong, okay? Just tell him how you feel. He might wake at the sound of your voice. Can you do that, for me, for Luke?" Emily pleads, unsure of why she was becoming so soft towards Luke. This man took her daughter farther away from her. Could it be that Lorelai made it clear Luke was here to stay, and Emily couldn't do a thing about it? Who knew? But right now, that wasn't the issue. The issue was the strong relationship of the hurt man and woman.

"I- I'll try…"

"That's my girl." Emily boasts, proudly, pushing her daughter up to Luke's side. Lorelai immediately takes his hand, not letting go.

"I'll be just outside the door if you need me." Emily watches her daughter try to hold it together in front of her fiancé, and then exits slowly out of the door.

"Oh, Luke, everything's finally starting to come together, and now all this." Lorelai sighs, and rubs her head against Luke's hand, shedding multiple tears over the man she loves.

"You gotta pull through, Luke… I need you. I want the whole package. You promised me the whole package." Lorelai gathered up all her strength, and held herself on the edge of the bed to a full standing position. It was killing her, but she couldn't just sit alone in that wheelchair. Hoisting herself up onto the bed, she grimaces at the shooting pain in her side, and finally lies down. She lifts his arm up, and puts it around her. Lorelai shifts closer, putting a hand on his stomach, and cries herself to sleep.

**TBC**

**Okay, it was a little longer, so that means I need MORE reviews!!!! Thanks!**


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